03 Dec 2013 - Boeing selects GKN to build 737 MAX advanced technology winglet
LONDON, December 3, 2013 – Boeing [NYSE: BA] has selected GKN plc to manufacture the Advanced Technology Winglet for the 737 MAX. Production of the winglets will take place at the GKN site at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom with final assembly at GKN's facility in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Already a market success, the 737 MAX has more than 1,600 orders from airlines around the world. “We announced our first winglet contracts for Boeing aircraft in 2007 and this award reflects the on-going success of our growing relationship,” said Marcus Bryson, CEO, GKN Aerospace and Land Systems. “It also draws on our expertise in the efficient manufacture of complex composite and metallic wing structures and makes full use of our ability to assemble this advanced structure. We are extremely proud to be part of the team that is producing this unique winglet - and to be involved with Boeing in creating this extremely efficient next-generation airframe." Boeing’s newest family of single-aisle aircraft, the 737 MAX will build on the Next-Generation 737’s popularity and reliability while delivering to customers unsurpassed fuel efficiency in the single-aisle market. Development of the 737 MAX is on schedule with firm configuration achieved in July 2013. First flight is scheduled in 2016 with deliveries to customers beginning in 2017. GKN will deliver the first developmental winglet ship sets to Boeing in 2015. UK Business Minister Michael Fallon said "This significant deal creates and secures hundreds of high skilled, long term engineering jobs on the Isle of Wight and across GKN's domestic supply chain. It also further strengthens the ties between Boeing and the UK, showing that this country can continue to be the supplier of choice to the world's leading aircraft manufacturers. That's why the Government is working in partnership with industry to deliver jobs and growth through our industrial strategy." Boeing’s Advanced Technology Winglet is one of a number of design updates that will result in less drag and further optimize the 737 MAX performance, especially on longer-range missions. In total these updates will deliver an 8 percent per-seat operating cost advantage over future competition.1 “Boeing is pleased that this agreement will build on our existing strong relationship with GKN,” said Sir Roger Bone, President of Boeing in the UK. “As Boeing celebrates 75 years of partnership with the UK in 2013, this agreement helps to ensure that our strong relationship with the UK aerospace industry continues for many years to come.” Two suppliers are manufacturing winglets for the 737 MAX programme, GKN and Korean Air Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD) in South Korea.
13 Aug 2013 - Latest in fuel efficiency: Split Scimitar winglet for 737s now in testing
It’s going to be harder than anticipated to distinguish Boeing’s planned 737 Max series from the current Next Generation 737s, based on the two models’ wingtips.
Take a look at the photo at right showing the wingtips of a United Airlines 737. These two-part Split Scimitar Winglets are now undergoing Federal Aviation Administration certification testing at Grant County International Airport at Moses Lake, Wash.
The Split Scimitar Winglets project both up and down, an advance that Aviation Partners Boeing claims will add at least 2 percent in fuel efficiency to 737 Next Generation models.
But wait!
A distinguishing feature of the planned future 737 Max is “advanced technology winglets,” as shown in the second image (an artist's rendering), which also split at the end of the wing, with one fin pointing up and another pointing down, also to increase fuel economy.
Boeing claims its new advanced technology winglets will add another 1.5 percent increase in fuel efficiency; it's already claiming a 10 percent to 12 percent increase for the 737 Max's new engines.
These subtle increases in fuel efficiency are significant in the heated battle between Boeing and competitor Airbus over orders for their competing re-engined models of their narrow body aircraft, the 737 Max and A320neo, respectively.
The retrofitted winglets also are important for carriers in their own cost-cutting efforts. Aviation Partners estimates the Scimitar winglets will save United Airlines, its first customer, 57,000 gallons of fuel a year for each 737-900 ER.
The two winglet models, which are visually very different from the up-swept “blended winglets” now common on 737s, are hard to tell apart.
A few clues are that the Split Scimitar wingtips are essentially add-ons to the blended winglets, so the lower portion is decidedly smaller than the original upturned swept winglets, and both feature extended tips with what the maker calls the “scimitars.”
The advanced-technology winglets planned for the 737 Max are more symmetrical and do not have the extended scimitar tips.
Tracing the lineage of the two models is nearly as complex.
Aviation Partners Boeing is a joint venture between Boeing Commercial Airplanes division and Aviation Partners Inc. that was formed to sell and market the original blended winglets.
That joint venture has been enormously successful, and has sold and installed its original blended winglets on more than 4,000 737 NGs (Next Generation). These days, nearly every new 737 NG rolls off the Renton line with the blended winglets already installed.
The new split-wingtip designs evolved through a combination of independent engineering and collaboration between Boeing and Aviation Partners, although it’s hard to tell how much is which.
“APB didn’t participate in the Boeing design, and the Boeing designers didn’t participate in APB’s,” said Bill Ashworth, CEO of Aviation Partners Boeing. “The APB design was approved by Boeing engineers, and they participated in evaluation of the test data. They also looked at the design technically, and said it’s a good design.”
So while Boeing will be using its own advanced technology winglet on future 737 Max aircraft, Aviation Partners Boeing already has landed 455 firm orders and options for its Split Scimitar Winglets, and expects to get a lot more. These winglets are being purchased by airlines such as United, to be retrofitted onto the wings of existing aircraft.
"This will add additional work for us, we’re glad to have it,” Ashworth said. “We’re going to increase staffing levels to handle it, but it’s great work, and customers are very excited about it.”
The Aviation Partners Boeing winglets are fabricated in Austria, although they are designed here.
The testing at Moses Lake is being handled by Aerospace Testing Engineering and Certification LLC, which has leased 23,000 square feet there, according to Pat Jones, executive director of the Port of Moses Lake.
11 Aug 2012 - Boeing Designs Advanced Technology Winglet for 737 MAX
Aviation Partners has started showing airlines a split-tip winglet with blended, "scimitar"-edged feathers as a retrofit option that the joint venture estimates can reduce fuel consumption by 2.5 to 3% on next-generation 737s. The move precedes a launch decision by the board of directors of the Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) joint venture, but that approval should come "shortly", says Joe Clark, founder of Aviation Partners, the Seattle-based firm that designed the standard blended winglet ordered on more than 4,600 737NGs. Aviation Partners unveiled the scimitar-edged winglet last October and launched flight tests on a 737 Boeing Business Jet in April, which confirmed the estimates of computational fluid dynamics models to within one-tenth of a percentage point, Clark says. "We are very pleased with what we've achieved," he adds. While APB prepares to offer a scimitar-edged split-tip winglet on the 737NG, Boeing is readying a straight-edged split-tip winglet on the 737 Max.
Both companies claim to have arrived on the split-tip configuration for the 737 at nearly the same time by coincidence. Aviation Partners had no prior knowledge of Boeing's "dual-feather" split-tip winglet for the 737 Max, and has received no information on the design from its joint venture partner, Clark says. For its part, Boeing also was unaware of the Aviation Partners design when it began working on the Advanced Technology (AT) winglet around June 2011, says Robb Gregg, a chief aerodynamicist for the 737 Max. "As I was looking at the configuration, we needed to get more performance out of it and really the only place we hadn't spent a lot of time was looking at the [wing]-tip," Gregg says. Boeing completed trade studies between August and September last year, he says, then fabricated a set of optimal shapes for testing in a wind tunnel. Although the split-tip design appears to be a new innovation, it traces back to Robb's previous work as a chief aerodynamicist at McDonnell Douglas. The airframer that merged with Boeing in 1997 had pioneered the installation of winglets on airliners in the mid-1980s. The MD-11 entered service with an up/down winglet, with a shortened lower surface forward of the upper surface. The lower surface was shaped to improve stall characteristics at low-speed, Gregg says. McDonnell Douglas also proposed a split-tip winglet for the short-lived MD-12, a late-1980s concept for a four-engined double-decker. As the chief aerodynamicist of the MD-12 concept, Gregg says, he proposed the split-tip to optimize lift of a wingspan artificially constrained to a length of 64.9m (213ft) to fit into existing airport gates. Likewise, the 737 Max also demanded more performance than a blended winglet could produce. "Because we needed more performance to satisfy the customers we felt we needed to push the technology a bit further," Gregg says. A split-tip wingtip has never been tested in flight test, and Boeing currently has no plans to test the 737 Max AT Winglet on a surrogate platform. Boeing is confident that computational fluid dynamics models have predicted drag characteristics accurately, Gregg says. At the same time, Boeing is not convinced a split-tip winglet will produce performance improvements as a retrofit option on the 737NG, although it has not conducted an analysis yet. Holding Boeing back is the knowledge that the AT Winglet increases the aerodynamic loads on the outboard wing section. "The better the winglet the more load it's going to drive outboard. Otherwise it didn't do anything for you," Michael Teal, chief project engineer on the 737 Max, said in a July interview. "The question is how difficult it would be to retrofit," he added. "You're getting out there on the end of a wing; it's not that thick. It's not something that's easy to take apart and add gauge to." Despite being joint-venture partners, Boeing and Aviation Partners also have different views on the margin of benefit provided by a split-tip winglet. Boeing predicts the straight-edged split-tip on the 737 Max will contribute 1.5% to fuel burn reduction. Aviation Partners, on the other hand, is proposing a 2.5% to 3% benefit from installing the scimitar-edged winglet on the 737NG, which shares the same airfoil as the 737 Max. Even so, Aviation Partners is optimistic that scimitar-edged split wing-tips will be retrofitted on as much as 60% of the 737NG fleet, Clark says.
2 May 2012 - Boeing Designs Advanced Technology Winglet for 737 MAX
RENTON, Wash., May 2, 2012
Boeing announced today a new winglet design concept for the 737 MAX. The new Advanced Technology winglet will provide MAX customers with up to an additional 1.5 percent fuel-burn improvement, depending on range, on top of the 10-12 percent improvement already offered on the new-engine variant.
"The Advanced Technology winglet demonstrates Boeing's continued drive to improve fuel burn and the corresponding value to the customer. With this technology and others being built into the MAX, we will extend our leadership," said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "Incorporating this advanced technology into the 737 MAX design will give our customers even more advantage in today's volatile fuel price environment."
Compared to today's wingtip technology, which provides up to a 4 percent fuel-burn advantage at long ranges, the Advanced Technology winglet provides a total fuel-burn improvement of up to 5.5 percent on the same long routes.
"The concept is more efficient than any other wingtip device in the single-aisle market because the effective wing span increase is uniquely balanced between the upper and lower parts of the winglet," said Michael Teal, chief project engineer, 737 MAX.
Boeing aerodynamicists used advanced computational fluid dynamics to combine rake tip technology with a dual feather winglet concept into one advanced treatment for the wings of the 737 MAX. The Advanced Technology winglet fits within today's airport gate constraints while providing more effective span thereby reducing drag. Ongoing 737 MAX testing in the wind tunnel validated the new concept on the airplane.
The super-efficient design has been incorporated into the 737 MAX design and production system plans. "We have assessed the risk and understand how to leverage this new technology on the MAX within our current schedule," said Teal. "This puts us on track to deliver substantial additional fuel savings to our customers in 2017." Airlines operating the 737 MAX now will gain an 18 percent fuel-burn per-seat improvement over today's A320. Depending on the range of the mission, MAX operators will realize even more savings.
"Adding the Advanced Technology winglet to the 737 MAX is consistent with our demonstrated performance on delivering increasing value to our customers, on time, throughout the life of the 737 program," said Beverly Wyse, vice president and general manger, 737 program.
To date, the 737 MAX has more than 1,000 orders and commitments from 16 customers worldwide.
30 Apr 2007 - APB selects UK supplier as it launches 767-300ER
programme with American order
UK-based GKN Aerospace has been selected by Aviation Partners Boeing
(APB) as a new supplier of the US company's blended winglets for the
rapidly expanding Boeing 737 "Classic" and newly launched 767 retrofit
programmes, while United Airlines is poised to start retrofitting its
757s.
The aerostructures specialist joins APB winglet supplier Kawasaki
Heavy Industries. Winglets for the 737 Next Generation. Despite the
much-needed addition of GKN, APB says the 737 Classic retrofit line is
sold out through 2009 at the rate of six shipsets a month. "We're still
going to ramp up as fast as we can, but it will be the end of this year
or early next before they can begin providing the first parts," says APB
vice-president sales Patrick LaMoria.
26 Dec 2006 - Aviation Partners Boeing Launches 737-900 Blended
Winglet Program
With program launch of Aviation Partners Boeing
737-900 Blended Winglets, and first deliveries slated for December 2007,
the world's airways will soon be making room for even more Blended
Winglet Performance Enhanced airplanes. Launch customers Continental
Airlines, KLM and Alaska Airlines plan to complete the retrofit of their
737- 900s by the end of the first quarter of 2008.
"We've had a great deal of customer interest in 737-900 Blended
Winglets and this important new program gives more of our operators
commonality and the ability to fly with 100% Blended Winglet equipped
737NG fleets," says Aviation Partners Boeing CEO John Reimers. "This
program is off to a very strong start and we anticipate that the
remaining handful of operators of the 737-900 will be unable to ignore
the tremendous value Blended Winglets add to the aircraft."
Benefits of Aviation Partners Boeing's Visible Technology are nothing
short of dramatic in fuel savings, improved performance and
environmental advantages. Given average aircraft utilization rates,
operators will save over 100,000 gallons (380,000 liters) of fuel per
aircraft per year resulting in a payback on investment of less than 3
years. Noise footprint, on takeoff and landing, is reduced by an average
of 6.5% while engine emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxides are
lowered on the order of 5.0%.
"Blended Winglets will give KLM improved range and payload on many
longer stage lengths in its European Network," says KLM's Vice President
of Fleet Services Rene Kalmann. "Further this decision fits in KLM's
Corporate Social Responsibility policy to invest in environmental
protection that goes beyond regulatory compliance."
For KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Blended Winglet equipped 737-900s will
continue to provide important fuel savings while adding to fleet
commonality -- the airline will be installing 21 additional Blended
Winglet Systems on the 737-800 beginning in March 2007. All 737-800s in
KLM's fleet will be Winglet equipped by February 2008.
"Continental remains steadfast in its efforts to improve aircraft
performance and reduce fuel usage. Equipping our 737-900s with Blended
Winglets moves us closer to that goal," says John Greenlee, Managing
Director of Fleet Planning for Continental. "The fuel efficiency
improvements offered by Blended Winglets coupled with our young fleet
provide Continental with a natural hedge against volatile fuel prices."
For Continental Airlines, Blended Winglet equipped 737-900s will
complement the carrier's existing winglet equipped aircraft, which
include 100% of its 737-700s, 737-800s and 757-200s. To date the airline
has installed winglets on 182 aircraft and plans to add over 100
additional Systems in the next few years as it will soon begin
retrofitting winglets onto its 737 Classic fleet while continuing to
take new 737NG aircraft with winglets, including the new 737-900ER.
"Our long-haul flying will benefit greatly from the fuel savings and
payload advantages provided by blended winglets," said Scott Ridge,
Alaska Airlines' managing director of technical operations and support.
"We've seen the value of the winglets on our other next-generation 737s
and look forward to achieving similar efficiencies with our -900s."
Alaska's order for 9 shipsets of 737-900 Blended Winglets adds to
their current order of: 19 737-700's and 37 737-800's of which 33 are
already in service.
By year-end 2006, over 1500 Blended Winglet Shipsets will be in
service with over 100 airlines in more than 40 countries on 6
continents. Currently, 65% of in-service fleet of 737-700s, and 57% of
in-service 737-800s, are Blended Winglet Equipped. By 2010, with over
4500 airliners upgraded, APB anticipates that Blended Winglet Technology
will have saved commercial airlines over 2 billion gallons of fuel.
5 Apr 2005 - MAS to install winglets for Boeing
The Boeing Co. signed a deal with Malaysia's national carrier
yesterday to set up a regional winglet modification center outside the
capital, Kuala Lumpur, a Boeing official said.
Aviation Partners Boeing and Malaysia Airlines Engineering sealed the
agreement yesterday in Kuala Lumpur, agreeing to operate the first
center in Southeast Asia to install fuel-saving winglet technology on
Boeing's 737s.
The pact will enable the engineering firm to become a one-stop shop
for airlines, said Craig McCallum, sales director of Aviation Partners
Boeing.
More than 100 aircraft are expected to go through the Malaysian
center for conversion in the next three to four years, McCallum said.
The facility will cater to the needs of airliners from countries such as
Indonesia, India and Malaysia.
Boeing will provide all manufacturing and engineering support, tools
and training to the center.
The announcement comes amid rumors that Malaysian Airlines is
considering buying 737-800s. However, Boeing denied any link between the
airline's purchase order and the facility deal.
The Malaysia facility will be the fourth in the Asia-Pacific region,
joining facilities in China, Hong Kong and New Zealand.
"Growth in blended winglet sales has been nothing short of
spectacular lately, and much of this growth has been in the Asia-Pacific
region," Mike Marino, Aviation Partners Boeing CEO, said in a statement.
Introduced in 1999, the winglet technology has become popular because
of the significant fuel savings it provides for aircraft -- ranging from
100,000 to 250,000 gallons per year per aircraft. The winglet system is
currently available for Boeing 737s, and efforts are under way to offer
them on 757s, 767s and 777s in the future.
14 Jan 2005 - Hapag-Lloyd Original Launch Customer Comes
Back for More APB Blended Winglets
Hapag-Lloyd Flug, a member of the TUI Group and the launch customer
for Boeing 737-800 Blended Winglets 4 years ago, has ordered 10
additional Blended Winglet Systems. The Boeing Company will install the
Blended Winglets as Buyer Furnished Equipment (BFE) on new 737-800s to
be delivered between January 2006 and May 2007. Hapag-Lloyd operates a
100% Blended Winglet Equipped fleet of 737-800s. After 4 years of
enjoying dramatic fuel savings, along with measurable performance and
environmental benefits made possible with Blended Winglet Technology,
this leading charter operator is sold on the benefits of Aviation
Partners Boeing Technology.
"This important order is a real affirmation of the outstanding value
of our product," says Aviation Partners Boeing CEO Mike Marino. "Hapag-Lloyd,
our most experienced customer, has an intimate understanding of the
compelling value of Blended Winglet Technology."
Hapag-Lloyd enjoys a wide range of operational benefits with Aviation
Partners Boeing's patented* Blended Winglet Technology. At current fuel
prices the fuel savings alone translates into a Blended Winglet Payback
of under 4 years. Additional important benefits include greater
payload-range capability and environmental advantages in terms of
reduced engine emissions and reduced noise on takeoff.
Aviation Partners Boeing Vice President of Sales & Contracts Patrick
LaMoria reports that Hapag-Lloyd needed no convincing to come in with
its second Blended Winglet order. "Hapag-Lloyd's experience operating
with Blended Winglet Technology has made including them with every new
Boeing aircraft they operate a very simple decision."
By mid-2005 over half of all Boeing 737-800 and 700 series aircraft
will be equipped with Aviation Partners Boeing Blended Winglets.
7 Oct 2004 - Continental Airlines to Take Shipset #500 for NG Boeing
737-800
While delivery of shipset 500 is a milestone in the history of
Aviation Partners Boeing, it's just a hint of things to come as the
global airline industry transitions to patented* Blended Winglet
Technology.
Blended Winglet Equipped Boeing aircraft are now flying on every
continent. Current orders and options stand at over 1200 shipsets with a
potential universe of 10,500 Boeing aircraft in the retrofit market
alone.
"We're only in the early stages in terms of meeting the growing
demand for Performance Enhancing Blended Winglet Technology. But, it's a
significant beginning," says Aviation Partners Boeing CEO Mike Marino.
"Blended Winglet Equipped commercial aircraft save fuel, operate with
enhanced performance due to a higher lift wing, and are measurably more
environmentally friendly. Today's 500 Blended Winglet Equipped 737 are
saving over 50 million gallons of fuel each year. If all Boeing aircraft
worldwide were retrofitted with Blended Winglet Systems worldwide fuel
savings would be close to 1.8 billion gallons each year."
Aviation Partners Inc. developed Blended Winglet Technology in the
early 1990s. Sized for maximum performance, and with a wider sweep
transition between wing and winglet, Blended Winglets are typically 80%
more effective than today's conventional angular winglet systems.
Typical operator benefits include fuel savings of up to 5%, depending
upon flight profile, improved performance from high and hot airfields,
faster time to climb, lowered engine emissions and a 6.5% reduction in
takeoff noise footprint.
"The future is as exciting for us as it is for our customers
worldwide who look forward to improving the performance, fuel savings
and overall return on investment of their aircraft," says Aviation
Partners Boeing Chairman Joe Clark. "We believe that anytime you can
improve the productivity and environmental benefits of an existing
airplane, it's a wise investment."
10 Jul 2003 - Air Plus Comet Becomes World's First Operator of
Boeing 737-300 with Winglets
Air Plus Comet yesterday became the world's first operator of a
Boeing 737-300 with advanced-technology blended winglets and the latest
carrier in Spain operating Boeing airplanes.
The winglets, which curve out and up from the plane's wing tips,
improve an airplane's performance and allow it to fly more than 185km
farther than a 737-300 without winglets. Winglets also offer excellent
environmental benefits, including reduced fuel use, takeoff and landing
noise, and in-flight engine emissions.
"As the first worldwide customer for the new 737-300 blended
winglet, we will be the first to experience the fuel savings and
environmental benefits they bring," said Alejandro Avila, Air Plus
Comet technical director.
The 737-300, leased from Aircraft Leasing Management, was delivered
today. Headquartered in Madrid, Air Plus Comet provides long-distance
charter flights between Spain and European locations and the Americas.
It began operations in 1997.
Aviation Partners Boeing, a joint venture of Boeing and Aviation
Partners, Inc., developed the winglets. The winglets can be installed on
737-300, -400, -700 and -800 models. More than 28 carriers fly nearly
300 winglet-equipped 737s.
| 
Winglets
This is a 737-200Adv, L/N 628, fitted with mini-winglets. This is part
of the Quiet Wing Corp flap modification kit which gained its FAA
certification in 2005. The package includes drooping the TE flaps by 4
degrees and the ailerons by 1 degree to increase to camber of the wing.
Benefits include:
SEATTLE,
Sept. 11, 2001 - The first Boeing 737-700
arrived in Kenya Monday, making Kenya Airways the first airline anywhere
in the world to operate a 737-700 with blended winglets. Kenya Airways
is expected to put the airplane into service later this month. The
airplane will be leased through GE Capital Aviation Services.
